ining fresh meat,
vegetables, fruit, and supplies generally. But there were no signs of
hurry on board the vessel: everything was done openly and leisurely, as
is the way of people who are taking their pleasure; and it was not until
nearly five o'clock in the afternoon that the boats were hoisted to the
davits, and a thin jet of steam spouting from the bows of the vessel
proclaimed that her crew were getting her anchor. And when at length
Perkins, the chief mate, standing in the bows of the vessel,
vociferously announced that the anchor was aweigh, there was no sign of
haste or anxiety in the slow, leisurely movement of the yacht as she
swept round in a wide circle from the spot where she had lain at anchor,
and headed seaward by way of the West Channel, dipping her ensign to the
men-o'-war in the roadstead as she went, while her crew catted and
fished the anchor on its appearance above the surface. Then, and not
until then, did the _Thetis_ quicken, until she was running at a speed
of about fourteen knots.

The yacht had been under way about half an hour when Jack, who with the
two Montijos and Milsom was on the top of the deck-house, diligently
watching the roadstead which they had just left, exclaimed: "Here she
comes!" and the Spanish torpedo boat was seen coming along astern, with
a dense cloud of black smoke pouring from her funnels, and the water
playing like a fountain about her sharp stem as she swept after the
_Thetis_ at full speed. Milsom looked at her long and earnestly through
his binoculars; then he turned to Jack and, with a frown wrinkling his
brow, said:

"By the look of that boat, and the pace at which she is coming through
the water, it appears to me, young man, that something has gone very
seriously wrong with the little job that you undertook to do yesterday.
Are you quite sure that you removed the nut?"

"Absolutely certain," answered Jack cheerfully.

"Then how do you account for the fact that she has not yet dropped her
propeller?" demanded Milsom.

"Easily enough," answered Jack. "She got under way, like ourselves, by
steaming ahead and sweeping round in a wide circle. So long as her
engines continue to turn ahead, her propeller will probably retain its
position on the shaft, kept there by the pressure of the water on its
blades; but the moment that she eases down, it will probably drop off,
or, if not then, it certainly will at the instant when her engines are
stopped. Don't be al